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Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, a teenage Serbian nationalist gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, as their motorcade maneuvered through the streets of Sarajevo. Next in line for the Austro-Hungarian throne, Ferdinand had not been particularly well liked in aristocratic circles. Nonetheless, his death quickly set off a chain reaction of events culminating in the outbreak of World War I. -
Japan makes Twenty-one Demands on China
Primary Documents - '21 Demands' Made by Japan to China, 18 January 1915. Seizing the opportunity effected by the onset of war in 1914, and by its status as an Allied power, Japan presented China with a secret ultimatum in January 1915 designed to give Japan regional ascendancy over China. -
May Fourth Movement
May Fourth Movement, intellectual revolution and sociopolitical reform movement that occurred in China in 1917–21. As part of this New Culture Movement, they attacked traditional Confucian ideas and exalted Western ideas, particularly science and democracy. -
German Resumption of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
Unrestricted submarine warfare was first introduced in World War I in early 1915, when Germany declared the area around the British Isles a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, would be attacked by the German navy. -
Bolshevik Revolution
November 6 and 7, 1917 (or October 24 and 25 on the Julian calendar, which is why this event is also referred to as the October Revolution), leftist revolutionaries led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin launched a nearly bloodless coup d'état against the provisional government. -
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The Russian Civil War
It was conflict in which the Red Army successfully defended the newly formed Bolshevik government led by Vladimir I. Lenin against various Russian and interventionist anti-Bolshevik armies. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: March 3, 1918. ... By the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine, Georgia and Finland; gave up Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Germany and Austria-Hungary; and ceded Kars, Ardahan and Batum to Turkey. -
Paris Peace Conference
The Paris Peace Conference convened in January 1919 at Versailles just outside Paris. The conference was called to establish the terms of the peace after World War I. -
First meeting of the League of Nations
Formed by the victorious powers in 1919, the League of Nations was designed to enforce the Treaty of Versailles and the other peace agreements that concluded World War I. It was intended to replace secret deals and war, as means for settling international disputes, with open diplomacy and peaceful mediation. -
Lenin's New Economic Policy
Lenin's New Economic Policy: What it was and how it Changed the Soviet Union. By the time 1921 came around, Russia's economy had been maimed by the effects of War Communism. Socialism had not begun on a good note, and Vladimir Lenin was becoming concerned with the unfortunate state of the economy. -
Mussolini launches fascist movement in Italy
Benito Mussolini, an Italian World War I veteran and publisher of Socialist newspapers, breaks with the Italian Socialists and establishes the nationalist Fasci di Combattimento, named after the Italian peasant revolutionaries, or “Fighting Bands,” from the 19th century. Commonly known as the Fascist Party, Mussolini’s new right-wing organization advocated Italian nationalism. -
Ataturk Proclaims Republic of Turkey
On July 24, 1923, the Lausanne Peace Treaty was signed and the TGNA announced on October 13, 1923 that Ankara was the new capital. Preparation was underway for the establishment of a strong republic. On October 29, 1923, the Republic was proclaimed. Atatürk was then elected first President of the Republic of Turkey. -
First Soviet Five-Year Plan
Joseph Stalin, in 1928, launched the first Five-Year Plan; it was designed to industrialize the USSR in the shortest possible time and, in the process, to expedite the collectivization of farms. The plan, put into action ruthlessly, aimed at making the USSR self-sufficient and emphasized heavy industry at the expense of consumer goods. -
The U.S Stock Market Crash
The stock market crash of 1929 was not the sole cause of the Great Depression, but it did act to accelerate the global economic collapse of which it was also a symptom. By 1933, nearly half of America's banks had failed, and unemployment was approaching 15 million people, or 30 percent of the workforce. -
Invasion of China by Japan
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria began on September 18, 1931, when the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria immediately following the Mukden Incident. The Japanese established a puppet state called Manchukuo, and their occupation lasted until the end of World War II. -
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Japanese invasion of Manchuria
In September 1931, they claimed that Chinese soldiers had sabotaged the railway, and attacked the Chinese army (which had just executed a Japanese spy). The Chinese army did not fight back because it knew that the Japanese were just wanting an excuse to invade Manchuria. -
Hitler is ruler in Germany
In the election of late 1932 the Nazis won 37 per cent of the vote, and became the largest single party in the Reichstag. Hitler demanded the right to become Chancellor, but President Hindenburg appointed Franz von Papen instead. -
Sandino Murdered In Nicaragua
Augusto César Sandino was born in 1895 and murdered in 1934 by National Guardsmen acting on the orders of the dictator Anastasio Somoza Garcia. Somoza later installed himself as president of Nicaragua. Somoza subsequently admitted to carrying out this crime with the backing of the US Ambassador. -
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The Long March (by Chinese Communists)
The Long March (October 1934 – October 1935) was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang (KMT or Chinese Nationalist Party) army. -
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Stalin's "Great Purge" in USSR
Soviet Professor Iosif G. Dyadkin estimated 1.42 million unnatural deaths were brought about by the Great Purge during 1937-1938 in his demographic study on unnatural deaths in the Soviet Union under Stalin. -
Cardenas nationalizes oil industry in Mexico
On March 18, 1938 President Cárdenas embarked on the expropriation of all oil resources and facilities by the state, nationalizing the U.S. and Anglo-Dutch (Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company) operating companies. -
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Invasion of Poland by Germany
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. To Hitler, the conquest of Poland would bring Lebensraum, or “living space,” for the German people. -
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Civil disobedience movement in India
Mohandas K. Gandhi launched and directed three major campaigns in the Indian Independence Movement: noncooperation in 1919-1922, the civil disobedience movement and the Salt Satyagraha of 1930-1931, and the Quit India movement from about 1940-1942. -
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German Invasion of USSR
The destruction of the Soviet Union by military force, the permanent elimination of the perceived Communist threat to Germany, and the seizure of prime land within Soviet borders for long-term German settlement had been core policy of the Nazi movement since the 1920s. Adolf Hitler had always regarded the German-Soviet nonaggression pact, signed on August 23, 1939, as a temporary tactical maneuver. -
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Soviet victory at Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Southern Russia, on the eastern boundary of Europe. -
D-Day (WWII)
During World War II (1939-1945), the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day. -
Capture of Berlin by Soviet forces
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European theatre of World War II. Following the Vistula–Oder Offensive of January–February 1945, the Red Army had temporarily halted on a line 60 km (37 mi) east of Berlin. -
Division of Berlin and Germany
At the Potsdam Conference (17 July to 2 August 1945), after Germany's unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945, the Allies divided "Occupation Zone Germany" into four military occupation zones — France in the southwest, Britain in the northwest, the United States in the south, and the Soviet Union in the east -
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Division of Berlin and Germany
At the Potsdam Conference (17 July to 2 August 1945), after Germany's unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945, the Allies divided "Occupation Zone Germany" into four military occupation zones — France in the southwest, Britain in the northwest, the United States in the south, and the Soviet Union in the east -
Partition of India
The Partition of India split the former British province of Punjab between India and Pakistan. The mostly Muslim western part of the province became Pakistan's Punjab province; the mostly Sikh and Hindu eastern part became India's East Punjab state -
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Apartheid of South Africa
Image result for what is the apartheid in south africa
Apartheid was a political and social system in South Africa while it was under white minority rule. This was in use in the 20th century, from 1948 to 1994. Racial segregation had been used for centuries but the new policy started in 1948 was stricter and more systematic -
The Creation Of Isreal
On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day. -
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Arab- Isreali War
The Arab-Israeli War of 1948 broke out when five Arab nations invaded territory in the former Palestinian mandate immediately following the announcement of the independence of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948. In 1947, and again on May 14, 1948, the United States had offered de facto recognition of the Israeli Provisional Government, but during the war, the United States maintained an arms embargo against all belligerents. -
Establishment of NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 1949. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. -
Establishment of The People's Republic of China
The People's Republic Of China. On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was formally established, with its national capital at Beijing. "The Chinese people have stood up!" declared Mao as he announced the creation of a "people's democratic dictatorship." -
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The Korean War
On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea’s behalf. -
French Defeat at Dien Bien Phu
In northwest Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces decisively defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu, a French stronghold besieged by the Vietnamese communists for 57 days. The Viet Minh victory at Dien Bien Phu signaled the end of French colonial influence in Indochina and cleared the way for the division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel at the conference of Geneva. -
Establishment of Warsaw Pact
It was the Communist counteraction to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). The Warsaw Pact came to be seen as quite a potential militaristic threat, as a sign of Communist dominance, and a definite opponent to American capitalism. The signing of the pact became a symbol of Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe. -
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U.S Troops in Vietnam
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Uprising in Hungary
March 5, 1953- Joseph Stalin dies. Nikita Khrushchev takes role as the new leader of the Soviet Union. November 10, 1956- The Hungarians are defeated and the revolution ends. The Soviet Union remains in control until it falls in 1989, then Hungary is no longer a communist nation. -
The Suez crisis
On October 29, 1956, Israeli armed forces pushed into Egypt toward the Suez Canal after Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-70) nationalized the canal in July of that same year, initiating the Suez Crisis.The Suez Canal is considered to be the shortest link between the east and the west due to its unique geographic location; it is an important international navigation canal linking between the Mediterranean sea at Port said and the red sea at Suez. -
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The Great Leap Forward in CHina
The Great Leap Forward was an effort made by the Communist Party of China (CPC) under the leadership of Mao Zedong (also known as Mao Tse-tung) to transform China into a society capable of competing with other industrialized nations, within a short, five-year time period. -
When Castro Came in Power of Cuba
The political leader of Cuba (1959–2008) who transformed his country into the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Castro became a symbol of communist revolution in Latin America. He held the title of premier until 1976 and then began a long tenure as president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers. -
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The Sino-Soviet Rift
The Sino-Soviet split (1960–89) was the deterioration of political and ideological relations between the neighboring states of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Cold War. -
Construction of The Berlin Wall
During the early years of the Cold War, West Berlin was a geographical loophole through which thousands of East Germans fled to the democratic West. In response, the Communist East German authorities built a wall that totally encircled West Berlin. It was thrown up overnight, on 13 August 1961. -
Separation of Berlin
Shortly after midnight on this day, East German soldiers begin laying down barbed wire and bricks as a barrier between Soviet-controlled East Berlin and the democratic western section of the city. After World War II, defeated Germany was divided into Soviet, American, British and French zones of occupation. The city of Berlin, though technically part of the Soviet zone, was also split, with the Soviets taking the eastern part of the city. -
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The Algerian War of Liberation
On March 18, 1962, France and the leaders of the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) sign a peace agreement to end the seven-year Algerian War, signaling the end of 130 years of colonial French rule in Algeria -
Creation of PLO
The PLO was created in Jerusalem in 1964, following a decision of the League of Arab States, with the first meeting of the Palestine National Council (PNC). The first Council, made up of 422 leading Palestinian representatives, adopted the Palestinian National Charter and formally created the PLO, headed by a Palestinian lawyer who had worked for several Arab governments as a diplomat. -
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Revolution in Iran
Iranian Revolution of 1978–79, also called Islamic Revolution, had a popular uprising in Iran in 1978–79 that resulted in the toppling of the monarchy on April 1, 1979, and led to the establishment of an Islamic republic. -
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Iran-Iraq war
Iraq invaded Iran on 22 September 1980, triggering a bitter eight-year war which destabilised the region and devastated both countries. The then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein claimed as a reason for the invasion a territorial dispute over the Shatt al-Arab, the waterway which forms the boundary between the two countries. -
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Soviet Widthdrawl from Afghanistan
Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev saw the Afghan intervention as an increasing drain on the Soviet economy, and the Russian people were tired of a war that many Westerners referred to as “Russia’s Vietnam. For Afghanistan, the Soviet withdrawal did not mean an end to the fighting, however. The Muslim rebels eventually succeeded in establishing control over Afghanistan in 1992. -
The Reunification of Germany
A unification treaty was ratified by the Bundestag and the People's Chamber in September and went into effect on October 3, 1990. The German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic as five additional Länder, and the two parts of divided Berlin became one Land. -
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The Persian Gulf War
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of neighboring Kuwait in early August 1990. Fellow Arab powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on the United States and other Western nations to intervene. -
The Collapse of USSR
The Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered for the last time over the Kremlin, thereafter replaced by the Russian tricolor. Earlier in the day, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned his post as president of the Soviet Union, leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the newly independent Russian state. -
The Transfer of British Hong Kong to China
Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong. The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, referred to as "the Handover" internationally or "the Return" in China, took place on 1 July 1997. -
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Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6, 1945 the US dropped an atomic bomb ("Little Boy") on Hiroshima in Japan. Three days later a second atomic bomb ("Fat Man") was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. These were the only times nuclear weapons have been used in war